Various illnesses and conditions such as brain trauma, dementia and Alzheimer's disease often leave people in such a condition that constant management of the patient is necessary to prevent further injury and mishap. Traditional systems and methods for monitoring and controlling patients with such needs have included bed straps or restraints, strait jackets, sedation, monitoring device(s), dedicated supervision, isolation rooms and the like, both alone and in combination. Many of these methods and systems are burdensome to all concerned and expensive. For example, bed straps immobilize a patient on a bed. When the patient desires to move or change position, the restraints prevent such shifting. As a result, a restrained patient can become very uncomfortable and/or agitated in addition to suffering medical complications. For another example, a dedicated person to attend to the restrained person's needs on an “all day, every day” basis is costly.
Several techniques for addressing confining a patient to an area, e.g., a bed, while allowing free movement have been developed to address the needs of the patient and caregiver. Some examples are illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 6,216,291 to Eads et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 6,263,529 to Chadwick et al., each of which is incorporated herein by reference. However, there are problems associated with these prior art enclosure bed apparatuses. Often, the condition that requires restraint may be temporary and, as a result, transportation, assembly and disassembly of the enclosure may be common. These prior art systems require extensive manpower for assembly and disassembly. When disassembled, loose parts can be lost and transport and storage is cumbersome and difficult. To assemble, tools and excessive know-how and manpower are needed. When assembled, excessive bulk prevents easy transport and storage.
Commonly, a patient enters the hospital at the emergency room experiencing symptoms that convince the staff that some form of isolation is in order. Following initial evaluation, a determination may be made indicating that additional tests, evaluation, admission, surgery, or more acute care is required. As a result, the patient may require transfer to multiple locations within the hospital facility, each requiring some form of isolation or restraint.
In addition to the complexity of the prior systems, those systems also have not been able to accommodate adjustable beds or side rails of the beds. For example, hospital bed sizes are relatively uniform. However, the mechanisms of the side rails of the bed may vary between different manufacturers. Specifically, the side rails of some beds extend beyond the end of the bed, and therefore require additional space in the length direction of the bed. Furthermore, wider beds may be necessary for heavier patients, such as bariatric patients. Enclosures made in uniform dimensions to accommodate the standard bed cannot be adjusted to function with different length or width beds that vary from the norm.